Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro

Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro
Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, today issued the following opening statement on the committee's consideration of the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill.

"The main problem with this bill is that it is severely underfunded. It is not because we do not have good leadership or because we do not have good supportive staff. This critical bill is underfunded - it is that simple.

"My colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue we find ourselves in these circumstances because we face a 10-year projected deficit of $1.35 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office - deficits they say were brought on by the September 11th attacks and the war in Iraq. But the facts do not bear this out.

"Indeed, the CBO tells us that changes in law enacted since January, 2001 increased the deficit by $539 billion this year alone - that in the absence of these changes in the law, the nation would actually have a surplus this year.

"So what accounts for nearly half of this $539 billion in increased deficits? Tax cuts - which account for 48 percent of every penny we have spent into deficit since 2001. These are not my figures - nor are these the Democrats' figures. They are what was told to us by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office this institution charges with giving us unbiased, unvarnished research based in fact - not rhetoric.

"Wherever one stands on the distribution of the tax cuts that Congress has passed, it is undeniable that they have significantly limited this government's ability to meet these challenges and do our jobs.

"Some in the administration say that we should make permanent the tax cuts for millionaires. Tell that to those who depend on the community services block grant, on low-income energy assistance, and job training. Tell that to those children in Head Start and schools that depend on Title I funding - tell it to those hoping against hope that NIH research will help save their diabetic child's life one day. Because with this bill, we are cutting funding for every last one of those programs.

"Deficits do matter, Mr. Chairman. They matter a lot to these families.

"We must do better than this Mark, Mr. Chairman. Because as it stands, it fails to provide the resources necessary to protecting and making opportunity real for millions of families—our children, our parents, our neighbors, our ailing relatives—the people we are charged with serving as Members of this Committee. We can do better than this Mark. We must."

Specifically, the bill:

· Eliminates 24 education programs like Comprehensive School Reform, drop out prevention programs, and community technology centers. And cuts No Child Left Behind by $806 million.

· Cuts $346 million (3.6 percent) in training, employment and unemployment services at a time when the economy has still not recovered from the last recession and 7.6 million Americans were unemployed in May.

· Reduces the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which serves about 5 million households - by $198 million or 9 percent.

· Provides the smallest increase for the National Institutes of Health in 36 years and reduces the overall budget for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) by $295 million or 5 percent.

· Continues the freeze on child care and after school centers. This is the fourth year that the Child Care Block Grant, which is used by states to assist low-income families with child care, is either frozen or cut.

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/June/LHHS_bill_06_16_05.html